RWC: AUS v URU (Villa Park, Birmingham): POOL A; 9pm (AEST) Sunday 27 September

[Rugbynutter39]

Cooper's passing was a sight to behold. Thank you rugby gods for this treat.

Ummm depends which 50% of passes you were referring to ...for every bit of cooper brilliance there is the equally tragic bit he does which puts the wallabies under pressure...we need a more consistent performer than Cooper and until he proves can do that it would be game suicide to start him for the big games

 

[Rugbynutter39]

What does an excellent halfback do?

Granted he made no incisive runs. But he gave great service to his flyhalf.

Against a tier 2 side full of amateurs Phipps needed to do more.....I thought he was a 5/10 for peformance - not enough to unsurp Genia

 

[Bairdy]

I know it's only Uruguay but it was pleasing for our defence to hold firm and not be breached, and further, for our discipline to be mostly very good (the 3 pointer conceded and Cooper's high tackle aside).

And it was not like we had the lion's share of possession. I think there was a stat saying Uruguay had far more of the ball than us.

That passing interplay was generally adequate, the carries were dominant and done at speed, notably a few gears down from their top speed. It could be seen as a positive or negative that it was our unforced mistakes that undid a lot of our unconverted try-scoring opportunities.

Cooper, for all flat attacking ability, passing and multiple touches, is really a source of frustration. His goal kicking was poor, but his discipline more importantly are a hindrance to him being the starting 10.

If Foley could start taking more ownership of the backline marshalling, he would indisputably be our 10. Alas, the 10 is the most pressing concern for TGC I think.

Same with our setpiece. Against mostly amateurs, we weren't overly dominant in the second half scrums, and our lineout without Simmons is shoddy.

Great game to watch though! Our forward pack were efficient, physical and hurried.

 

[Ash]

Ummm depends which 50% of passes you were referring to .for every bit of cooper brilliance there is the equally tragic bit he does which puts the wallabies under pressure.we need a more consistent performer than Cooper and until he proves can do that it would be game suicide to start him for the big games

He had one pass to no-one all game: less bad passes than either To'omua or Beale? It was his goal kicking and yellow card that was the concern, nothing wrong with the rest of his play at all.

 

[scaraby]

He had one pass to no-one all game: less bad passes than either To'omua or Beale? It was his goal kicking and yellow card that was the concern, nothing wrong with the rest of his play at all.

Yup so the goal kicking will be all good by Giteau ( Cooper is usually way better than tonight btw). And the yellow card was a joke...we normally argue about him not tackling by the way. Cooper has to be 10 for mine ...he's back but needs game time and some backs with brains outside him.

 

[TOCC]

Quade maybe when big fat Pommy forwards start to get tired?

I dunno, its hard to judge Quade as "running a game" when he had a half-decent game here but a fairly ordinary performance against NZ as well.

As Ash says above: confidence in either to run a Test is low, but for different reasons. Some people want Foley to be some kind of god instead of the enabler he is. Some people want Quade to just stop fucking around and get the basics right, THEN select the right time to turn on the razzle dazzle.

I agree, I actually like your constructive comments.

I don't think Foley or Quade are currently in the pool of the top 5/8's in the world. The strength of each players is the other ones weakness. Quade might have the raw talent to pull some fantastic plays out but he lacks the composure and temperament that Foley has in controlling a game, that been said whilst Foley has composure he doesn't have Quade's passing game and his style is much more predictable.

 

[Pedrolicus]

No major injuries. Bonus point. No tries conceded. Biggest margin in the world cup so far. You'd take that at kickoff.

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[galumay]

Rubbish -

No, just a different opinion. I watched 2 sides last nite kick at 100% last night - but could only create 2 tries between them.

If they both repeat that performance against the wobbles and we kick at 50-60% I reckon we will thrash them both.

Yes it would be nice if we had a higher kicking %, but more tries will do me!

I agree QC (Quade Cooper) won't play a lot of minutes at 10 from here, mainly for reasons other than his kicking.


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[qwerty51]

No major injuries. Bonus point. No tries conceded. Biggest margin in the world cup so far. You'd take that at kickoff.

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Pretty sure Skelton is gone for the tournament with whatever he's done as he needed the arm to be supported - not a good sign.

 

[Lindommer]

Phipps was quick to the breakdown (despite Marto's sly slagging) and nailed his passes. On the other hand Genia has lifted his game the last few outings and cut out the two-steps-and-pass every time. There are roles for both of them either starting or finishing according to what sort of game Cheika wants the team to play.

The five-eighths? There are five in this squad (Beale, Cooper, Foley, Giteau and To'omua), none of whom look to playing the house down in the 10 jumper ATM. Spose it's best to select two first choice halves and stick with them. After Pfitzy's observation about Malone giving QC (Quade Cooper) extra kicking practice I'd like to see all this lot do shitloads of kicking between fixtures.

 

[Benaud]

I'd say the team vs England will be the same as against Fiji, with either McMahon or McCalman replacing Skelton on the bench (whether he's injured or not). And I'd say that was the plan all along.

 

[Scotty]

Cooper may replace To'omua on the bench, he's shown what Foley lacks around the field - mainly vision and creativity.

Phipps has been very good and will be putting Genia under lots of pressure.

Mitchell and Tomane were very disappointing early but improved as the game went on. Same goes for Speight too.

McCalman had been good but had a few small errors. I think McCalman will be ahead of McMahon on the bench at this stage.

I'm liking the idea of McMahon. Risky, but we may as well go all in with our best players. If he is in for Skelton it isn't like our lineout misses anything and he has more impact than Skelton and McCalman.

 

[ForceFan]

This half of the squad will benefit from the run but 19 Handling Errors really says it all. (4 x Forwards and 15 x Backs - Cooper, Mitchell, Speight and Tomane all 3 a piece).
Enough has been said about QC (Quade Cooper)'s 45% conversion rate - very poor.

Surprised that against this standard of opposition that there were so few TOW 8 Total - McCalman 2; 1 to each of Sio, Mumm, Palu, Cooper, Tomane and Beale.

Ruck Involvements for the Wallaby Forwards

Remember:

1. Early means 1st or 2nd of player’s team AFTER the ball carrier has been tackled and brought to ground.
2. Impact means active engagement: strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, protecting ball etc. (more than hand on someone’s bum or arriving after the hard work has been done). Yes it’s subjective - but as I collect all data at least it’s consistent.
3. Impact DOES NOT equate to Effectiveness. I’ve concluded that coming up with an effectiveness measure is just too hard in the time that I have available – but open to suggestions.

Comments:

1. McMahon and McCalman head and shoulders above the rest with 35% of Total Ruck involvements by Forwards and 45% of Defensive Ruck involvements by Forwards.
2. Mumm the best of the rest by a significant margin. He also had 4 LOW and Stole 4.
3. The Backs had 27% of Total and 40% of Defensive Ruck involvements.
4. Commendable Def Ruck involvements by Sio (5), To'omua (6) and Tomane (4).
5. This group of Front Rowers contributed only 29% of Total Ruck involvements. IMO this is a real problem area for the Wallabies in the RWC. Too much of the ruck work for the Wallabies is being left to our Back Row. Teams such as ABs, Boks and England have Front Rows which get involved in Rucks to the tune of ~40% of Total Rucks. This frees up the Back Row to be more involved as ball carriers.
6. The involvement/work rate of Toby Smith in particular is of concern. A good scrummager but light involvement in rucks, 2 tackles made/2 tackles missed, 3 Penalties, 3 runs for 21m - 1 Clean Break/1 Def Beaten. Uruguay did not work our scrum very hard.
7. Palu put in a reasonable effort in the 1st half. 8 Tackles/0 missed, 1 LOW, 1 TOW.
8. Skelton's work rate/involvement continues to be of concern (at least for me). 5 Tackles/1 Missed; 7 runs for 29m - 2 Def Beaten, 4 Passes; 1 Penalty + numerous warnings; 0 LOW. When he left the ground both Speight and To'omua had at least the same number of ruck involvements with more impact.
9. Simmon's ruck involvement continues at about 66% of his SuperRugby involvement and 75% of his TWC involvement. Maybe he's been asked to save himself for the set pieces.

I reckon our national coach chewing gum during his post-match interview is a bad look on the World stage.

 

[Hawko]

No major injuries. Bonus point. No tries conceded. Biggest margin in the world cup so far. You'd take that at kickoff.

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So Skelton and Palu are good to go next week? Or did I miss some implied criticism.

 

[Marcelo]

I have no idea what this means....?

Palu's holiday

 

[Rugbynutter39]

I agree, I actually like your constructive comments.

I don't think Foley or Quade are currently in the pool of the top 5/8's in the world. The strength of each players is the other ones weakness. Quade might have the raw talent to pull some fantastic plays out but he lacks the composure and temperament that Foley has in controlling a game, that been said whilst Foley has composure he doesn't have Quade's passing game and his style is much more predictable.

Yep I don't think we will ever get agreement on who is best 10 for us out of foley and Quade for they are way below worlds best 10's. Long term hope to see better option emerge but won't happen this rwc as neither seem a long term answer for what is a key position

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Yes sadly agree macmahon unlucky as we need mccalums height so former probably misses a bench spot. Can see why cheika chose McMahon for squad as strong performances in last two games he has played

 

[Brumby Runner]

Excellent starts by McMahon and Beale.

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Haven't read the posts after this yet, but from that opening moment on KB (Kurtley Beale) just went down hill. Missed tackles, wayward passes, balls lost in contact and so on. Mitchell must really be a chance to replace him on the bench.

 

[dru]

Phipps started tentatively deliberately taking extra time before passing. Accuracy clearly in his mind. I'd prefer he played instinctively. He got better as he settled in.

I see again comments about Quades defence. Honest. I thought he was bowling them over including Im pretty sure hurling down someone with a 3 on his back.

Neither played into the A team.

Strangely nor did To'omua. Unless as a desperate attempt for something new at 10.

And we have yet another 7 putting his hand up.

 

[KOB1987]

Haven't read the posts after this yet, but from that opening moment on KB (Kurtley Beale) just went down hill. Missed tackles, wayward passes, balls lost in contact and so on. Mitchell must really be a chance to replace him on the bench.

you are just so anti-Beale it's almost embarrassing to read. Like everyone else he made a couple of mistakes, mostly just threw a couple of passes too hard and direct, but aside from that he was one of the best on the park.